“Although multiple studies point to elevated rates of depression, anxiety and substance abuse among sexual minority people,” reads the study’s abstract, “the panel found that these problems, by themselves, do not account for the higher rates of suicide attempts that have been reported by LGBT people. Thus, the consensus report identified stigma and discrimination as playing a key role, especially acts such as rejection or abuse by family members or peers, bullying and harassment, denunciation from religious communities and individual discrimination. The report also highlighted evidence that discriminatory laws and public policies have a profound negative impact on the mental health of gay adults.”

(Notably, the study also calls for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, due in 2013, to stop classifying transgender people as having a mental “disorder.”)

Indeed, the study specifically cites “individual discrimination” and “institutional discrimination” as the causes of this stigmatization of queer youth, and says “mental disorders constitute the single largest risk factor for suicidal behavior,” not sexuality. However, mental disorders — such as depression, anxiety, and drug and alcohol abuse — were more prevalent among non-heteros, as was the likelihood of having multiple disorders.

But the key conclusions, as Perkins seems to continually miss (or purposefully obstruct), are that suicides and suicide attempts among LGBT youth are linked not to sexuality or gender identity, but to all the fucking stress and ostracizing that people like Perkins promote and facilitate.

Mr Perkins and his ilk are intellectually and emotionally incapable of admitting ANY degree of culpability responsibility. They’re not wired for it.

Their world view is so resolutely fixed and anchored that for them to consider anything other as possible would result in complete emotional and mental collapse from which no recovery would be possible.

Jan 10, 2011 at 3:17 pm · @Reply ·

ewe

Tony Perkins has a smelly crusty asshole.

Jan 10, 2011 at 11:59 pm · @Reply ·

Daez

Perkins will most likely quote this study as evidence that “sexual minorities are more prone to mental illness,” and then, he will go on to say that the rest of the study is flawed and that all that matters is the mental illness part, and why stay homosexual if it leads to more mental illness. Then he will use that to promote ex-gay ministries.

People like Perkins don’t read whole studies, just like they don’t read the whole Bible (they tend to skip those parts about compassion and love), so this study will work right into his selective reading.